Yahoo Adds Max Levchin To Board Of Directors

Yahoo announced today that it has added Max Levchin to its board of directors. David Kenny and Brad Smith have stepped down. There are now a total of 11 directors on the board.

Levchin is perhaps best known as one of the co-founders of PayPal, but he's done a lot more than that. Yahoo gives a brief bio of his work:

Levchin is a computer scientist, serial entrepreneur and angel investor with extensive experience building enduring Internet companies. His latest undertaking, HVF, is focused on solving big problems and improving lives by extracting insights from the vast quantities of data around us. Prior to founding HVF, Levchin served as vice president of engineering at Google after its acquisition of Slide, an early developer of social applications which he founded and ran. Levchin incubated and was the first investor in Yelp. A graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, he was one of the co-founders of PayPal as well as the company’s CTO, from founding through its acquisition by eBay.

CEO Marissa Mayer said, “Max is someone I’ve admired throughout my career for his phenomenal sense for great products and keen focus on user experiences. I’m confident that his strong product and technology expertise will be a tremendous asset to Yahoo! as we work to transform the world’s daily habits.”

“I’d like to thank David and Brad for their stewardship of the company over the past few years," she added. "Both David and Brad played critical roles in bringing me to Yahoo!, so I’m especially grateful for the opportunity and trust they’ve placed in me. They also oversaw some of Yahoo!’s most significant transactions, including the recent Alibaba repurchase agreement. We will miss their leadership and partnership, and I know I speak for everyone at Yahoo! in wishing them the best."

Board chairman Fred Amoroso said, “The board is thrilled to welcome Max, and we look forward to working with Marissa and the entire Yahoo! team to continue to drive the company forward. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank David and Brad for their vision and dedication to Yahoo!. Their insight has been invaluable in helping to position Yahoo! so well for the future."